Delicious Amish Style Lemonade [RECIPE]

Once upon a time, I lived in Amish country and while I never developed a taste for shoofly pie or whoopie pies, I did fall hard for Amish style lemonade.

Outside of coffee, Amish style lemonade is my favorite drink, which is odd because I have a problem with foods and drinks with high levels of acid and usually avoid them, but this lemonade goes down so smoothly and you can't help but smack your lips together like a little kid after taking a big gulp on a hot summer day.

I bought the jug in the photo above several years ago. At the time, it was filled with lemonade and set me back about five bucks. I got to wondering how hard it'd be to make my own Amish style lemonade to save on trips to Amish country, so I did a little digging and found this recipe (originally published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in August 1998) and it's been my go-to recipe time and time again. I should warn you that this recipe isn't for those watching their sugar intake or who are diabetic.  This recipe will make enough for 6 cups of lemonade.

You'll need:

10 lemons, very well scrubbed
1 1/4 cup of sugar
A small pinch of salt
5 cups of cold water

Directions:

• Cut all of the lemons in half lengthwise and then slice them thinly.
• Mash the lemons with the sugar and salt in a large, deep bowl or crock, using an old-fashioned potato masher or heavy wooden spoon. Mash until the slices give up their juice, the sugar is dissolved and the juice is syrupy. This will take about 5 minutes and in that time, you might question if it's worth the work. Trust me, it is!
• Pour about half the lemon slices into a sieve over a bowl or pot, pressing the solids to release as much liquid as you can.
• Toss out the solids and transfer the liquid to a serving pitcher.
• Stir in the water until blended.
• Add ice cubes or chill, stirring just before serving over ice. It's competely normal to see little transparent floaters. These are pieces of the lemon and won't harm you.